The Live Report: Puerto Rico Open, Final Round (PGATOUR.com)
March 15, 2010
The finish at the Puerto Rico Open had to be pushed back a day, but the weather shouldnt be a problem Monday.
LAMELY LIKES THE GREENS (12:15 p.m.): One reason why current leader Derek Lamely is playing so well at Trump International? His putter has been solid.
Live Report essentials PGATOUR.COM’s The Live Report has all the news and notes from Monday’s finish of the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular, and we’ll be providing updates all day long. (All timestamps are Eastern Time.) LIVE SCORING: Shot Tracker | Leaderboard | LISTEN: PGA TOUR Network | RESPOND: Facebook | Twitter | FanZone
“For whatever reason, when I get on the greens, I can really see the lines,” Lamely said earlier in the tournament. “You know, I feel really comfortable on the greens in that respect, speed, speed of the greens. I’ve got greens like this at home.
“So for whatever reason, I feel like my lines are good. My speed is pretty good here. Just kind of a good fit.”
LUNDE ON FIRE (12:05 p.m.): Bill Lunde has reeled off four consecutive birdies to move to 13 under with eight holes remaining. He may be too far back to catch the leaders, but he could be headed for his best finish on TOUR.
Lunde had two top-10 finishes on his first full year on TOUR in 2009, including a tie for fourth at the Frys.com Open.
to follow the remainder of Lunde’s round.
FAST MOVING (11:55 a.m.): Rookie Derek Lamely is making just his 12th career TOUR start. Should he win on Monday in Puerto Rico—he currently leads by a stroke—it would obviously be a rapid trip to the winner’s circle.
We thought it would be interesting to take a look at how quickly some of the TOUR’s notable players won their first TOUR event.
First wins Tiger Woods Won the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational in his fifth career start on TOUR as a pro Phil Mickelson Won the 1991 Northern Telecom Open as a amateur. After turning pro in 1992, it took him another 15 starts before he won again, the 1993 Buick Invitational of California Steve Stricker Won the 1996 Kemper Open in his 73rd career start on TOUR Sergio Garcia Won the 2001 MasterCard Colonial in his 33rd career start on TOUR Ernie Els Sunday’s winner in Doral, Els won the 1994 U.S. Open in his 18th career start on TOUR
NOTABLE VETERANS MAKE MOVES (11:30 a.m.): A few notes on some veterans who are making noise in Puerto Rico:
• Steve Elkington — Currently in the top five on the leaderboard, Elkington is seeking his first top-10 finish since a tie for 10th at the 2008 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Elkington hasn’t won on TOUR since the 1999 Doral-Ryder Open.
• Woody Austin — Currently in the top five on the leaderboard, Austin is seeking his first TOUR win since the 2007 St. Jude Championship.
• John Daly — Daly’s 6-under 66 in the third round is his best round since a first-round 66 at the 2009 Wyndham Championship. Still, Daly is well off the lead, currently tied for 44th.
QUICK CHANGES (11:15 a.m.): Kevin Streelman finished his third round an hour ago with a three-shot lead. And now? He’s one shot behind.
After barely catching his breath between rounds, Streelman opened his final round with a double bogey on the par-4 first that dropped him to 15 under for the tournament. That’s one shot behind rookie Derek Lamely, who is 3 under for his final round and 16 under for the tournament.
To follow Streelman’s round, . To follow Lamely’s round, .
SCORING AVERAGES (11:10 a.m.): Scoring averages through the first three rounds at the par-72 Trump International Golf Club.
Round Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative Totals 1 35.500 35.864 71.364 — 2 35.056 35.794 70.849 71.112 3 34.771 34.400 69.171 70.698
THE 10TH HOLE JINX? (10:57 a.m.): To start his final round, rookie Derek Lamely teed off on the 10th hole Monday morning. The last person to tee off on No. 10 and win was Keith Clearwater at the 1987 Colonial Invitational.
But if there’s a jinx, it hasn’t kicked in yet. Lamely is a bogey-free 3 under through his first eight holes in the final round and has reduced Kevin Streelman’s lead to one shot.
Since he teed off in the first group off No. 10 in the final round, Lamely may have a long wait after he completes his round before learning of his fate.
DON’T OVERLOOK THAT 64 (10:27 a.m.): Of course, the key score posted in the third round was Kevin Streelman’s bogey-free 8-under 64 that vaulted him into the lead and has him positioned for his first TOUR win.
In his first 54 holes this week at Trump International, Streelman has just two bogeys. He’s played the front nine in a collective 7 under with no bogeys, and he’s birdied the par-3 16th all three rounds. In fact, he’s a collective 6 under with no bogeys on the par 3s this week.
Kevin Streelman’s lowest rounds on the PGA TOUR Score Relation to par Year Tournament Round 62 8 under 2008 Travelers Championship 3 63 9 under 2010 Bob Hope Classic 3 63 7 under 2008 Travelers Championship 2 63 7 under 2008 Valero Texas Open 2 64 8 under 2010 Puerto Rico Open 3 64 8 under 2010 Bob Hope Classic 4 64 8 under 2008 Children’s Miracle Network Classic 1 64 7 under 2009 John Deere Classic 3 64 6 under 2009 HP Byron Nelson Championship 3 64 6 under 2009 Mayakoba Golf Classic 4 64 6 under 2008 Wyndham Championship 2
LAMELY’S 63 (10:25 a.m.): In looking back at the third round, you might want to check out rookie Derek Lamely’s course-record 9-under 63. He posted 10 birdies during the round, which is the lowest posted this week. It’s also his best round in his brief TOUR career by three strokes—Lamely shot a 66 in the first round this week, and also carded a 66 at the Bob Hope Classic.
for Lamely’s scorecards from Puerto Rico.
THIRD ROUND COMPLETE (10:15 a.m.): The third round of the Puerto Rico Open is officially in the books, and several players have already started their final rounds.
Third-round leader Kevin Streelman has a three-shot lead over Steve Wheatcroft, Kris Blanks and Chad Collins and will tee off at 10:35 a.m. Streelman has never won a PGA TOUR event; he his best career finish is a tie for third last year at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun.
Streelman, who won the inaugural $1 million Kodak Challenge in 2009, cruised to the 54-hole tournament scoring record with a 199. The previous best 54 hole score was 203 set by Bo Van Pelt in 2008 (T2).
MONDAY FINISH (10 a.m.): The Puerto Rico Open will be the second TOUR event this season with a Monday finish. The Bob Hope Classic also finished on Monday, with Bill Haas winning his first TOUR event.
Prior to Monday, the last time the full final round was played on Monday (unscheduled) was the 2009 RBC Canadian Open.
Timeline: Suspension of play •; On Thursday, the first-round was suspended at 7:19 a.m. ET due to heavy rains which led to unplayable course conditions. It was decided at 1:30 p.m. that play would be suspended for the day. A total of 18 players teed off prior to the suspension of play on Thursday.
The first round resumed at 7:15 a.m. on Friday and was suspended at 7:36 a.m. due to rain and unplayable course conditions. The first round resumed at 4:35 p.m. on Friday. Play was suspended at 6:36 p.m. due to darkness with 22 of the 44 groups on the course.
On Saturday, the first round resumed at 7:10 a.m. with 22 of the 44 groups on the course. The second wave began teeing off at 8:35 a.m.
The second round was suspended due to darkness at 6:40 p.m. with 57 players on the course on Saturday. They resumed play at 7:10 a.m. Sunday, while the second wave teed off the second round at 7:30 a.m. Only six players completed the second round before the suspension.
On Sunday, the third round was suspended due to darkness at 6:36 p.m. with all 70 players on the course. Play resumed at 7 a.m. Monday. Players will not be repaired after the third round.
A total of 6.6 inches of rain fell on Trump International Golf Club on Thursday. Six-tenths of an inch of rain fell on the course on Friday. Between March 5-10, a total of 5.4 inches of rain fell on the course.
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